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Why Autohome Shares Jumped Today

The company beat its guidance for the third quarter and declared a special cash dividend.

What happened

Shares of Autohome (NYSE:ATHM) have jumped today, up by 10% as of 11:30 a.m. EDT, after the company reported third-quarter results. Autohome also announced a special cash dividend.

So what

Revenue in the third quarter rose 5% to $232.7 million, topping the high end of Autohome's guidance of $228.5 million. Net income came in at $64 million, while operating cash flow was $82.4 million. Average daily unique visitors who accessed the company's mobile app jumped 28% during the quarter as Autohome continues to focus on mobile traffic and engagement.

Image source: Getty Images.

Autohome expanded its Used Car Platform to 85 cities in China during the quarter and now includes around 5,300 used car dealers.

Now what

In a statement, CEO Min Lu said, "Our strong execution on all of our strategic initiatives during the quarter resulted in revenue growing 38.7% year-over-year for the media and leads generation services combined. Going forward, we remain committed to strengthening our competitive advantage in the core media and leads generation business as we increasingly benefit from our two newest initiatives in data solutions and auto-financing."

Autohome's board of directors has declared a special cash dividend of $0.76 per ordinary share, based on current exchange rates. The company notes that the actual amount paid out in U.S. dollars will be subject to the exchange rate when the dividend is paid, which is expected on or around Jan. 15, 2018. The dividend will be paid to shareholders of record as of Jan. 4, 2018.

In terms of outlook, Autohome expects revenue in the fourth quarter to be in the range of $254 million to $257 million.

Evan Niu, CFA has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Author

Evan is a Senior Technology Specialist at The Motley Fool. He was previously a Senior Trading Specialist at Charles Schwab, and worked briefly at Tesla. Evan graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, and is a CFA charterholder.